I recently replaced my front shifter, front derailleur and chain and then realised I needed to replace my rear cassette also as the chain was slipping and on inspection I can see a fair amount if wear to the cassette.

I spoke o chainreactioncycles.com and they said that it would work but it might not change as smoothly as I would like and the chain and cassette would probably wear quicker, so I bought a Sram chain and hopefully when this arrives they will be fine, will keep the Campag chain for backup

Ok cool! Something that rarely occurs but worth looking at is your chain ring teeth wear. Not saying anything is wrong but you know something you may want to look at. Keep an update also you can post picture of your ride in "Show off your Bike" area..... http://forums.bicycletutor.com/forum-36.html

Good maintenance to your Bike, can make it like the wheels are, true and smooth!

Hi Bill, I checked that too and it seems to still have life in it, installed the new chain and cassette and everything works fine now, this was the first time i successfully finished any kind of bike maintenance other than chaing inner tubes!
(I changed the front shifter, front derailleur, cassette and chain) so I'm really pleased to have it up and running - feels like a new bike!
I really got the bug now and want another bike to fix up!
Thanks again!

Your very welcome ! Glad that everything turned out super for you. As far as the bug, I still have it. You can always have an extra bike for a back up . Just don't do like me. I have 20 bikes!!! Some are on the list for restore/sell but most of them I do ride lol. If you dont mind me listing a couple I will show the ones I plan on selling later this year:

Those are some of the fixer upper I have done/will be doing. Sorry to list so many, but I am proud of my work like you are on your new skills . Tell the truth this is where I started just a yr. and a half ago! But anyways enough blah blah on my part lol.

Good maintenance to your Bike, can make it like the wheels are, true and smooth!

That's really amazing Bill, great to see!!
I've just been looking through all the threads and I have a couple of questions.

How did you get on with replacing some of the old derailleurs/shifters/cranks, etc?
How did you get on with the rustbuckets? Was it painful or have you found a way to do it with minimal effort?
How long does it take you to restore your bikes?

Well done on all your projects, it really is an inspiration for me to get into putting some bikes together of my own, I was thinking about hunting down a few frames from junkyards and car boot sales and taking it from there

I started out working on my daughter's bike which was a well beaten and well rode bike. 20" girls next coaster brake bike. Had been like 2 decades since I even touch a bike. I had auto tools which were overkill. I decided to do some internet search and found a few informative places but this one for some reason caught my eye ! From there here I am lol.

Sparing my whole story the old deraillers, cassettes/freewheels, cranks and such I did ALOT of online time searching forums cross referencing different parts, if no one here had any ideas. Most of my questions were answered here though. . Sometimes when all else fails I had to take things apart to discover how it worked. As I was taking things apart I took pictures for reference. Also recently instead of throwing bolts and nuts together, I seen this well organized guy on here put things in zip lock bags for each part! I am currently doing this method as well. If they are not scarred, tore up, and/or worn then I simply clean up the parts re-lube them and put them back where they go. Falcon deraillers and freewheels were one of the most pains!!!

Well the "rustbuckets" (lol) are not bad to deal with. There is no minimal effort, I just remove everything strip the paint with either chemical or wire brush or sometimes both! Then clean off the paint stripper or dust with mineral spirits, sand a little bit for any burs, paint leftovers, and such and clean again with mineral spirits (which I mix water 1/3 to 2/3 water). After it has dried in the sun or overnight I spray on the first coat of primer let it dry for 2hrs, then hand sand to make smooth (also wipe down with mineral spirits let dry), then put another coat on and repeat process. If the frame or anything else I am painting has a decent primer on it then I move to spray painting. Do it on a day where humidity is low, sun is shining, and NO WIND lol. Going on, after I have sprayed the first coat on I leave it dry for no less then 24hrs. Do note you may not get everything but it is ok. Then hand sand wipe down with mineral spirits let dry, do the next coat of paint. After it dried then I sanded again, mineral spirits, and applied the clear coat!

Time involved is around 1 week for a "fast job". If no painting required I usually can do a complete overhaul in about 3hrs.

When getting frames inspect them for dents, dings, bends, cracks, rust through holes, etc. An unsafe frame is not worth the time or effort to try to fix. Someone could get hurt very badly! Take your time don't be in a hurry and have lot's of patience.

You are welcome, and thank you for the kind comments!!
Bill

Good maintenance to your Bike, can make it like the wheels are, true and smooth!

I can't thank you enough for taking the time to explain your way of restoring Bill, it's much appreciated and I hope I get the chance to put some of this into action soon.

I'm a complete newbie to bike maintenance, I got fed up with paying through the nose to LBS's for services so decided to have a go myself. This website was a blessing, Alex's videos are so clear and informative.

After checking out ebay all weekend I bought a Specialized Rockhopper which I'm gonna pick up tomorrow, apparently all it needs is the headset looking at and the front shifter and derailleur hooking up, my girlfriend needs a new bike and I'm sure she'd love this one...
Check it out this is the link: http://bit.ly/fVdbhz

You are welcome again. It was cool remembering how I got started. You are correct his videos are professionally done like short films, including scripts!! His skills are much better then just about any video on youtube.

That is an amazing bike with excellent suspension! Don't think you can go wrong with that . Specialized do make nice bikes! Your girlfriend should be happy too.

Good maintenance to your Bike, can make it like the wheels are, true and smooth!

Wow Ben nice deal! . Scooter? Haven't really worked on or played with many of those. Sounds fun .

I got a Mongoose XR-200 Silver/Black edition that I am gonna clean up and do a few upgrades to. Not going to put alot of money in it because many have give bad reviews. The things I am going to put on it is things I already have in my possession so actually I really won't be out of any money. $20.00 US is all I paid for plus I have another that has been sitting around for a while so I have plenty of spare parts lol. Took it for a spin today to see what I had to do to it and I am going to give it the works!

Good maintenance to your Bike, can make it like the wheels are, true and smooth!

The scooter looks like fun to ride, gonna be interesting making the rust vamoose as it is verrry rusty! Will be sure to post a pic later.

I got my old Deore front derailleur working again thanks to some wd40 but the Deore shifter that came with the bike has a limit screw which is wound on tight and unable to unscrew and the thread has been worn a little, do you know of any way to remove the screw and save the shifter by any chance Bill?

I'm sure whatever you do to that Mongoose it will turn out nice, I've seen a few of your bikes and you always do a good job. How heavy is the frame? Quite envious I never had full suspension, always wanted one after trying them out and reminded me of being on a sailing ship bouncing up and down!